[雙語]首選“私奔”目的地，你想知道嗎？

“To all my friends and relatives, to all colleagues: I am giving up on everything and eloping with Wang Qin.” So wrote Chinese billionaire venture capitalist Wang Gongquan on his micro blog on May 16.
“各位親友，各位同事，我放棄一切，和王琴私奔了。”5月16日，中國的億萬富翁、風險投資家王功權在他的微博中寫道。

To fill you in a bit, Wang is a successful, married businessman.
要說明的是，王功權是一位已婚的成功商人。

As his blog post says, he plans to “elope” or run off with his mistress, leaving behind his wife, family and friends.
就像他在博客中寫的一樣，他打算和情人“私奔”或離開，撇下他的妻子、家庭和朋友。

Many romantic young couples have sympathized with his choice.
許多崇尚浪漫的年輕情侶們紛紛表示支持他的選擇。

“The greatest measure of success in life isn’t how much money you make. It’s whether or not you’re able to lead the life you want to live. Wang is a person who lives honestly,” one micro blogger wrote on Sina Weibo.
有人在新浪微博上寫道：“生活中，衡量成功與否的最好標準并不是你掙了多少錢，而是你是否能過上你想過的生活。王功權就是一個誠實生活的人。”

Such sentiments have long motivated eloping young couples as they seek to be together, despite parental objections.
長久以來，年輕情侶們常被這種觀點所驅使，為了能在一起，不顧家人反對，選擇私奔。

Shakespeare’s classic play Romeo and Juliet is a timeless example of this.
莎士比亞的經(jīng)典之作《羅密歐與朱麗葉》就是這樣一個永恒的例子。

In the play, the young couple Romeo and Juliet falls in love. However, their families are basically at war, so the couple plans to elope and marry secretly with the help of a few trusted confidants.
在這部劇中，年輕的羅密歐和朱麗葉相愛了，但他們的家人卻彼此仇視。所以這對情侶在幾位心腹密友的幫助下，計劃私奔并秘密結婚。

The story doesn’t end well for Shakespeare’s young lovers. But that hasn’t stopped young lovers from running away together.
莎士比亞的故事中，這對年輕情侶并未“幸福的生活在一起”。但這并不能阻礙現(xiàn)今的年輕戀人們一同遠走高飛。

But, where do lovelorn young couples elope?
但是，害了相思病的年輕情侶們都私奔何方呢？

In the UK, one small Scottish village has become synonymous with the act of eloping.
在英國，一個小小的蘇格蘭村莊成了“私奔”的代名詞。格雷特納格林坐落于倫敦和愛丁堡之間的一條古老的公共馬車線路旁。它距蘇格蘭和英格蘭的邊界不遠，是從英格蘭乘坐公共馬車進入蘇格蘭后到達的第一個村莊。

Lord Hardwicke’s marriage act of 1753 meant that, in England, people under the age of 21 couldn’t get married without parental permission.
1753年哈德威克伯爵頒布的婚姻法案規(guī)定，在英格蘭，21歲以下的年輕人，未經(jīng)父母同意，不能結婚。

As a result, youngsters began eloping over the border to Gretna Green, where they could get married as long as they were at least 16.
因此，年輕人們開始越過邊界，私奔到格雷特納格林。在那里，他們只需年滿16歲就可以結婚。

Many infamous chases have taken place along the old coach route to Gretna Green.
許多不光彩的追捕事件紛紛在通往格雷特納格林的這條古老的馬車線路上上演。氣急敗壞的父親們連夜追趕孩子的傳奇故事不勝枚舉。

But in these tales they always reach Gretna Green just a little too late to stop their daughters from getting married.
但在這些故事中，他們總是遲到了那么一點點，無法及時阻止女兒的婚禮。

Residents near Gretna were well known for helping runaway couples. Many inns located along the route to the village could be counted on to “accidentally” delay any pursuers, allowing couples to reach Gretna safely.
格雷特納附近的居民以喜好幫助私奔情侶而聞名。通往村莊的道路沿線上，許多小酒館都能夠“偶然地”拖延追趕者的腳步，好讓情侶們安全到達格雷特納。

Of course, there’s no guarantee that things will end “happily ever after” for eloping couples. But they may just have a great story to tell their grandkids.
當然，對于私奔的情侶們來說，沒有誰能保證故事結局一定是“從此一直幸福下去”。但至少，他們有個很酷的故事可以講給孫輩們聽。